Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 41,082 complaints for BMW
Incident date: Sep 16, 2024
Purchased CPO certified Mercedes-Benz 2021 Sprinter Rv Van that was sold to me by Mercedes-Benz of S. Orlando Florida with illegal window and windshield tint and when I complained they stated it’s buyer’s responsibility to pay for removing once it’s sold. It’s a safety hazard as it was extremely difficult to see at night. Police pulled us over for it, but kindly told us to remove it for o... Read more
Incident date: Sep 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2024 Ford Escape. The contact stated that his wife had driven approximately 500 miles during a trip from Tennessee to Michigan, where she made stops as needed. The contact stated that after his wife arrived to the destination, she noticed that she had sustained third-degree burns on the right buttock and on the right upper leg from the front driver's side seat heater. The contac... Read more
1 injured
Incident date: Oct 25, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V406000 (Fuel System, Diesel); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
Engine/transmission has slight shudder sometimes after driving long distances. Transmission had issues with clutch and shift fork with only 56,000 miles. Skipped gears or got stuck when shifting from gear 1 to gear 2 with no warning on the day it needed services. Only way to fix is put a brand new transmission in. Should not be needing a new transmission with such low mileage..
Incident date: Nov 18, 2020
While addressing the Headlamp Flicker recall N242468880 another problem was caused. The Drivers side headlamp is always on high-beam There is no way to turn it off. I have had two incidents where oncoming traffic has crossed the double yellow line. The dealer states that the entire headlight mist be replaced and it is on backorder with no expected date of availability. This 2024 GMC Canyon is bli... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2020
VW implemented hill hold assist for all new GTI and Golf R manual transmission vehicles. Hill hold does not disengage when you start to engage the clutch to go. Instead, the brakes will remain locked, up to 3 seconds on steep hills. This prevents the driver from moving the car quickly, especially on hills, making a left crossing traffic... we've had close calls due to this delay. It can also c... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2020
VW implemented hill hold assist for all new GTI and Golf R manual transmission vehicles. Hill hold does not disengage when you start to engage the clutch to go. Instead, the brakes will remain locked, up to 3 seconds on steep hills. This prevents the driver from moving the car quickly, especially on hills, making a left crossing traffic... we've had close calls due to this delay. It can also c... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
My 2025 Kia Teulluride that I bought on 10/21/2024 was sitting in my garage over night on 11/20/2024. The next morning 11/21/2024 I went to leave for work and notice a huge crack in the windshield. Goes from the driver side to about half way to the middle of the windshield
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The car would slow down out of no where there time when the car doesn’t go over 5 miles per hours and throws it self in park some times my door wouldn’t open with the bottons can’t open my truck
Incident date: Nov 23, 2024
I have been having issues with my car abruptly stopping by itself. One example is when I was driving down the road with no one behind me and the car went from 40MPH to 0. The car behind me almost hit me. But MotorWorld's excuse to this was maybe this was because of the sun!!!!! I had called MotorWorld when this first started happening and they claimed they never heard of this happening before afte... Read more
Incident date: Nov 4, 2024
I'm experiencing issues with Ford's 10-speed transmission, widely considered dangerous due to issues like: harsh shifting, sudden jerking, hesitation when applying power, and unpredictable gear changes. Erratic shifting: The transmission can shift gears unexpectedly, causing sudden jolts and potentially causing loss of control, especially during critical driving situations like lane changes or h... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2024
2 WEEKS AGO, I WAS DRIVING MY JEEP AND STOPPED FOR A TRAIN. THE JEEP SUDDENLY CUT OFF. I PUT IT IN PARK AND IT STARTED RIGHT UP. AFTER THE TRAIN PASSED, I DROVE APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET TO THE NEXT STOP SIGN AND IT CUT OFF AGAIN. IT RESTARTED, BUT I HAVEN'T DRIVEN IT FOR ANY DISTANCE SINCE THEN BECAUSE I'M AFRAID IT WILL CUT OFF ON THE HIGHWAY WHILE I'M GOING TO WORK OR ELSEWHERE. ALL MAINTENAN... Read more
Incident date: Aug 28, 2024
2 WEEKS AGO, I WAS DRIVING MY JEEP AND STOPPED FOR A TRAIN. THE JEEP SUDDENLY CUT OFF. I PUT IT IN PARK AND IT STARTED RIGHT UP. AFTER THE TRAIN PASSED, I DROVE APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET TO THE NEXT STOP SIGN AND IT CUT OFF AGAIN. IT RESTARTED, BUT I HAVEN'T DRIVEN IT FOR ANY DISTANCE SINCE THEN BECAUSE I'M AFRAID IT WILL CUT OFF ON THE HIGHWAY WHILE I'M GOING TO WORK OR ELSEWHERE. ALL MAINTENAN... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2024
The gas gauge/odometer on the dashboard shows up blank or is total gibberish. Therefore, I have no idea how much gas is left or the current mileage for maintenance timing. It used to only happen in cold weather, but now it happens at any temperature. It usually does this when starting of the engine and it can eventually show up in a minute or 20 minutes into driving. I get this "error" almost dai... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 GMC Yukon. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the message "Reduced Acceleration" was displayed, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 40 MPH, and the vehicle was driven back to the residence. The vehicle was taken to BMI Automotive transmission shop, where the valve body and the intermittent speed sensor w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 GMC Yukon. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the message "Reduced Acceleration" was displayed, and the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 40 MPH, and the vehicle was driven back to the residence. The vehicle was taken to BMI Automotive transmission shop, where the valve body and the intermittent speed sensor w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 6, 2024
Upper radiator hoses are failing. Failed at 40k miles due to manufacturer defect of the part. Seeing owners complain about them leaking off the dealer lot and know 10+ that have had theirs fail around 30k miles.
Incident date: Nov 22, 2024
So our door handles have not been working to the point where my kids are stuck in the car and they can’t open the door and from the outside we are not able to open the door. We have safety warnings that pop up often then disappear and also we have our screens turn black and take a mom to turn back on. We have called VW corporate and they told us to keep taking it in then we take it for service a... Read more
Incident date: Nov 22, 2024
MARCH 2022 MILES 7713 08191002 MODULE ANTI LOCK BRAKE CONTROL 1 68442477ACMODULE ABS REPLACED VEHICLE WAS TOWED WOULD NOT START JUNE 2023 MILES 11325 089191002 MODULE ABS CONTROL 1 68442477AC MODULE ABS SYSTEM VEHICLE WAS TOWED WOULD NOT START NOV 2024 MILES 26543 08191002 MODULE ABS CONTROL 1 68442477AC MODULE ABS BRAKE SYSTEM VEHICLE WOULD NOT START VEHICE WAS TOWED THIS IS THE 3RD TIM... Read more
Incident date: Oct 22, 2024
My sub frame is completely rusted through at 138,xxx miles. It was kept in a garage, or I was told from the dealership it was, and was well kept.
Incident date: Jan 12, 2022
As of 11/22/2024, Odometer reading little over 4k miles. Bought it brand new from Honda dealership in Pennsylvania. Issue: Right before coming to a complete stop i.e while down shifting 20mph to 6 - 8 miles per hour, I am feeling a sudden jolt while breaks applied. It is unknown to me weather this is a engine or transmission issue but this same issue many Honda HR-V owners have noticed and report... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
My F150 Truck dropped out of gear (5th ) to lower gear while driving. Which is very dangerous and caused almost a potential accident. Seem the power train in transmission and sensors had issue keeping truck in gear. Seems to be an issue on previous F150s and alot of 2017 models
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
My F150 Truck dropped out of gear (5th ) to lower gear while driving. Which is very dangerous and caused almost a potential accident. Seem the power train in transmission and sensors had issue keeping truck in gear. Seems to be an issue on previous F150s and alot of 2017 models
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
I have had dozens of incidents where I will be driving down the road and my car will just break for no apparent reason. It is totally random and at times terrifying. It happens with no other vehicles in front of my vehicle as well as while I am just driving in traffic with cars behind me. Many times, after it happens initially, I cannot accelerate the car due to the breaks locking up. I have to pu... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while her husband was driving 70 MPH, the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted to first gear. The driving release and then depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle returned to normal functionality. The “Service Engine” warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH and making a left turn, the steering wheel seized, and the front passenger's side of the vehicle lowered to the ground and made an abnormal grinding sound, before coming to a stop. The contact stated that upon exiting and inspecting the vehicle, it was noticed that the tie rod had detached from the front passenger's sid... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
The contact owns a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. The contact stated that on several occasions while the vehicle was parked, the tailgate opened and closed inadvertently. The contact stated that while the tailgate button located on the tailgate was depressed, the tailgate failed to respond as intended. The contact stated that the tailgate operated normally when the button inside the cabin of the v... Read more
Incident date: Mar 15, 2024
I’ll cut right to the facts. Last weekend my wife and I were driving on the highway in our 2013 Ford Edge [XXX] ed on the brake pedal as we neared our exit – WE WERE NOT SLOWING DOWN - we found ourselves with what seemed to be NO BRAKES again I repeat NO BRAKES. Immediately sheer panic hit me as I pushed the brake pedal to the floor and held it there. Luckily we were FINALLY able to ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2024
Making a right turn I was startled by a vehicle running a red light. Front wheel passenger side cleared the curb. Right rear tire jumped the curb jolted back to ground. I looked at tire pressure gauges and no leaks were evident. Being on a single lane road I continued driving looking for a turn in place after traveling about a quarter of a mile an engine rattle developed and there was faint smell ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 20, 2024
The awd module is faulty. It's causing thr collision assistance, the lane assistance, the awd and a few other things to not work or throw a faulty warning. I've been doing some digging and it seems to be a very common thing. The ford escape titanium is already in recall I believed
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle went into LIMP Mode, was jerking, and failed to exceed 45 MPH. The contact pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the engine knock sensor was replaced; however, the failure recurred while driving. T... Read more
Incident date: Oct 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2019 Honda Civic. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the vehicle could not be repaired due to the parts not being available. The contact stated that the ma... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Corolla. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (AIR BAGS); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experience... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2024
Greenway CDJR in Florence Alabama did the T33 airbag recall on my Grand Caravan. I recently found out while investigating another issue that they had taken a shortcut and the work wasn't properly or thoroughly done. The recall was to correct an issue with exposed wiring and the remedy was to install a protective sleeve. Rather than remove the retaining clip to install the whole length of sleeve th... Read more
Incident date: Oct 19, 2024
The brakes keep giving out, this is the second Mitsubishi and the brakes gave out [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash
Incident date: Nov 16, 2024
Electric power steering/Rack and Pinion randomly stopped working while driving. Replacement part has not been available for months. Cost of repair is astronomical. Several forums are reporting the same issue of this part randomly stopped working while in use.
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Compass. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH and approaching a red light, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate, and that the gear shifter remained in drive. The vehicle came to a complete stop in the middle of the roadway. The brake light remained illuminated. The contact waited for a while and the ve... Read more
Incident date: Sep 10, 2024
Started to experience heavy shaking and vibrations while accelerating. Vehicle only had 20,000 miles on it at that point. Reduced speed to maintain control of vehicle. Took to dealer and was told that it was a failed CV axle which had failed and needed replaced. Mechanic informed us that the Maverick was produced with faulty cv axles and this was a common problem and vehicle was unsafe to dr... Read more
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
abs and traction control lights and alarms come on and off at very random times
Incident date: Aug 13, 2024
abs and traction control lights and alarms come on and off at very random times
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
We received these recalls more than a year ago and after we called the Acura dealership they told us that there were not enough parts to fix the cars now and that they would give us a call when they had the parts, after two months we called them again and same statement, and same thing for 3 more times with the span of six months. today after more than a year I called again and they are saying no ... Read more
Incident date: Oct 21, 2024
We received these recalls more than a year ago and after we called the Acura dealership they told us that there were not enough parts to fix the cars now and that they would give us a call when they had the parts, after two months we called them again and same statement, and same thing for 3 more times with the span of six months. today after more than a year I called again and they are saying no ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 18, 2024
2018 CX-5 has a cracked or porous (depending who is telling me the issue) cylinder head at 60000 miles. I was told by the Mazda service advisor that the issue is common. I reached out to Mazda for assistance in covering their faulty part and was told they would not cover any of it.
Incident date: Nov 18, 2024
After a collision the screen flashed "Air bags deployed". The car then turned on the hazards, called 911 then vented the windows. The issue is the air bags did not deploy at all. I suffered a concussion and whiplash due to the accident. No warning lamps or messages ever appeared before while driving the vehicle.
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Nov 19, 2024
Airbag light and steering wheel control malfunction due to clock spring. Known issue can cause airbag not to deploy. Dealer refused to fix issue.
Incident date: Nov 19, 2024
My 2021 Bronco Sport suddenly died on [XXX]. The parking brake engaged unexpectedly, locking all four brakes and resulting in a significant skid mark. An error message flashed: “Park Not Available. Apply Park Brake Before Exiting,” and the park gear light blinked. I turned off the engine again, but the car was dead when I tried to restart it. After getting a jump start, the car turned on. Ho... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2024
ABS-Hydraulic Control Unit failure, pump motor control electrical failure. Confirmed/ Diagnosed by dealer. Messages on dash info screen: "service electronic braking system", "ABS failure", warning lights : Traction Control and ABS failure. Safety risk when warning message appears: ABS, Traction Control and Cruise Control are non- functional.
Incident date: Nov 19, 2024
engine misfires, rough idling, decreased fuel economy, and a check engine light due to potential clogging or wear within the injectors, sometimes caused by debris from the high-pressure fuel pump